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Connectingto the Future

Q and A General Test

Writing Assessm

GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATIONS

Computer-Based Testing

N E W

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HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS:

IBM-compatible PC 486 or better processor

8 megabytes of RAM Microsoft Windows, version 3.1,95, 98, or NT 4.0

VGA monitor; mouse CD-ROM drive

PREPARE

www.ets.org/store.html

N E W

Order Today Order onlineat www.ets.org/store.htmlor call1-800-537-3160or1-609-771-7243(outside the U.S. and Canada). Ask for Dept. P22.

Refund policy:No refunds on books or downloadable software. Refunds will be made for unopened packaged softwa with original packing slip within 30 days of order date.

* Price does not include shipping, handling, and applicable taxes, and may be subject to change.

POWERPREP SoftwareVersion 2.0 (U.S. $45*)

General Test

Two actual computer-adaptive tests thatallow you to practice under testingconditions

Hundreds of authentic practicequestions with explanations

Writing Assessment

Get advice about how to writeeffective essays for both the Issue

and Argument tasks Practice writing essays under simulated

GRE testing conditions

D O W N L O A

D F R O M

T H E W

E B T O D A

Y !

D O W N L O A

D F R O M

T H E W

E B T O D A

Y !

PREPAREfor the GRE

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Looking for answers to your questions about taking the GRE General Test and the new

Writing Assessment on computer?

OVERVIEW The GRE Program offers a series of different tests: the General Test,Subject Tests in 14 disciplines, and, beginning October 1999, the new

Writing Assessment. Both the General Test and the new, separate Writing Assessment are available in computer-based (CBT) format. The Subject Testsare available in the paper-based format only. This publication containsinformation about the computer-based General Test and Writing Assessment.Refer to the GRE Information and Registration Bulletin or the GRE Web siteat www.gre.org for information about the Subject Tests and additionalinformation about the GRE Program.

Copyright 1999 by Educational Testing Service.EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE, ETS, the ETS logo, GRE, GRADUATE RECORD EXAMINATIONS, and POWare registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service. The modernized ETS logo and GradAdvantage are trademarksof Educational Testing Service. Sylvan Technology Centers is a registered trademark of Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc.

The terms and conditions in this publication are subject to change.

VISA is a registered trademark of VISA International Service Association.MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Inc. American Express is a registered service mark of the American Express Company.

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GENERAL INFORMATION What are some benefits of computer-based testing?For both the General Test and the Writing Assessment, computer-basedtesting offers

individual scheduling on a first-come, first served basis comfortable testing environment official score reports mailed 10-15 days after testing

For the General Test only, computer-based testing also offers questions tailored to each test takers ability level

immediate viewing of unofficial scores on screen opportunity to choose four score recipients after viewing unofficialscores

When and where will the computer-based General Test and Writing Assessment be offered?Testing is scheduled year-round at approximately 300 domestic andapproximately 190 permanent international computer-based testing centers.See Test Registration on page 10.

Are there accommodations for test takers with disabilities?ETS is committed to serving test takers with disabilities by providingservices and reasonable accommodations deemed appropriate given thepurpose of the test. Test centers can provide the following: wheelchairaccess, extended testing time, additional breaks, selectable background and

foreground colors, test readers, recorders of answers, and sign languageinterpreters (for spoken directions only). The following can be madeavailable to those who are familiar with their use: Kensington Trackballmouse, HeadMaster Plus Mouse, Intellikeys keyboard, and ZOOMTEXT.Registration for test takers with disabilities must be done through the mail.See the GRE Web site or Bulletin for registration procedures.

How is security handled?Examinees must present proper photobearing identification at the testcenter, where a digital photo of each examinee is also taken. Examinees signin and sign out when entering or leaving the testing room, and their photoIDs and signatures are checked every time.

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The testing area is monitored by proctors and by video systems. Individual,separated testing stations provide privacy and security. During transmission,data are encrypted to prevent unauthorized access. Once a test question hasbeen exposed to a certain number of test takers at particular score levels, it

is removed from the active question file.

TEST INFORMATIONHow is the computer-based General Test structured?The General Test consists of three scored sections:

Verbal - 30 questions, 30 minutes Quantitative - 28 questions, 45 minutes Analytical - 35 questions, 60 minutes

In addition, you will most likely encounter an unidentified pretest section, which can appear in any location in your test. This section will be anotherverbal, quantitative, or analytical section. You may also be presented withan identified research section, which will always appear as the last sectionof your test session. The pretest and research sections are not scored.Pretesting allows measurement specialists to evaluate the appropriateness of each question before it is included in scored sections. Research sections areused for various purposes, such as trying out new question types.

How does the computer-based General Test work?The computer-based General Test is a computer-adaptive test, in whichquestions are selected while you take the test. The first question is of middle difficulty. The computer algorithm selects the second and

subsequent questions on the basis of several factors, including the statistical characteristics (including difficulty level) of the

preceding questions, and whether those questions were answeredcorrectly or incorrectly

the required variety of question types coverage of specific content

Your score will be based on the number of questions you answer as wellas on the difficulty levels of the questions you answer correctly andincorrectly.

What skills are measured in the Writing Assessment?The GRE Writing Assessment gives you the opportunity to display yourcritical thinking and analytical writing skills. It assesses your ability toarticulate and support complex ideas, analyze an argument, and sustain

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a focused and coherent discussion. It is not a test of specific contentknowledge, and there is no single best way to respond. For these reasons,and because you will be developing your own well-reasoned responsesrather than selecting answers from a multiple-choice list, the new

assessment provides very different information about your abilities thanthat provided by the GRE General Test.

What is the Writing Assessment like?The assessment consists of two analytical writing tasks: a 45-minutePresent Your Perspective on an Issue task and a 30-minute Analyze an

Argument task. The Issue task states an opinion on an issue of generalinterest and asks you to address the issue from any perspective(s) you wish,providing relevant reasons and examples to explain and support your views.The Argument task presents a different challenge: it requires you tocritique an argument by discussing how well reasoned you find it. You willneed to consider the logical soundness of the argument rather than agree ordisagree with the position it presents.

The two tasks are complementary in that one requires you to constructyour own argument about an issue, whereas the other requires you tocritique someone elses argument by assessing its claims and evaluating theevidence it provides.

TEST PREPARATIONDo I need to be computer literate to take the General Test or

Writing Assessment?General Test You can take the General Test even if you have little or noprevious computer experience, or have never used a computer mouse. Theinstructions you will get in the hands-on tutorials before the test will giveyou all the experience you will need to take the test on computer using amouse. You will be able to spend as much time as you need on the tutorialsbefore you start the actual timed test. To learn more about the tutorials,visit the GRE Web site at www.gre.org/cbttest.html.

Writing Assessment Some knowledge of a computer keyboard andsome typing skills would be helpful. The word-processing program doesnot include spell check or grammar check functions. Examinees are givenscratch paper to use for organizing thoughts.

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How can I prepare for the computer-based General Test? POWERPREP Software Version 2.0 - Test preparation for the

GRE General Test and Writing Assessment - contains two actualcomputer-adaptive General Tests that allow you to practice under

testing conditions. The package includes tutorials, test-takingstrategies, hundreds of authentic practice questions withexplanations, and immediate GRE-equivalent score results.

N E W GRE Diagnostic Service - Take a series of online diagnosticquestions at http:/grediagnostic.ets.org and receive immediatefeedback on the skills measured by the General Test.

Although the following publications contain tests in paper-based format,they are valuable practice materials for the computer-based General Testbecause question types are the same for both formats.

Practicing to Take the GRE General Test - 9th Edition contains7 actual paper-based GRE General Tests and a Math Review.Features 1 test with explanations of answers.

Practicing to Take the GRE General Test - Big Book contains27 actual paper-based GRE General Tests - more than 5,000

questions total. Contains the tests included in the 9th edition. Visit www.gre.org to try interactive sample questions. Downloadthe free GRE Practice General Test and/or Sample Questions withExplanations or contact the GRE Program to receive copies of thesepublications. (See back cover.)

How can I prepare for the Writing Assessment? POWERPREP Software Version 2.0 - Test preparation for the

GRE General Test and Writing Assessment - gives advice abouthow to write effective essays for the Issue and Argument tasks. It will also let you practice writing essays under simulated GRE testingconditions, using the same GRE word processor and testing toolsthat appear in the test.

You can find information on scoring criteria, advice on how to writeeffective essays, and a complete list of topics for both tasks on the

Web site at www.gre.org/writing.html or by contacting the GREProgram.

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Where can I purchase these study materials?For fast processing with VISA , MasterCard, or American Express:

Order online at www.ets.org/store.html Download POWERPREP at www.ets.org/store.html

Call 1-800-537-3160 or 1-609-771-7243 (if ordering outside theU.S. and Canada) Fax your order and credit card payment to1-609-771-7385

Or Download the publications order form from the GRE Web site

Practice materials are also available from many international educationaladvising centers. Check with your U.S. Embassy or Consulate for an officenear you.

SCORING AND SCORE REPORTINGHow is the computer-based General Test scored?

Your score will be based on the difficulty level of the questions you answercorrectly and incorrectly, as well as on the number of questions you answer.

You will receive a test score on every section regardless of the number of questions you answer, even if time expires before you answer all thequestions. If you answer no questions in a section, that section will bereported as a No Score (NS).

Can I achieve a high score on the General Test even ifI answer some questions wrong?

Yes. The test is designed to give you challenging questions. You shouldexpect to answer some questions incorrectly.

Can I cancel my General Test score?Upon completing the computer-based General Test, you can choose toimmediately view your unofficial scores on screen or cancel them beforeviewing them. If you choose to cancel your scores, they cannot bereinstated and no refund will be made. Institutions will not receive any information about the scores you canceled.

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When will my General Test scores be reported?Score reports will be mailed to you and any designated institutionsapproximately 10-15 days after the test date. Test centers cannot providecopies of your scores to you.

How is the Writing Assessment scored?Each essay will be evaluated by 2 readers on a 6-point holistic scaleaccording to criteria published in the GRE scoring guides (see theBulletin or Web site at www.gre.org/writing.html ). Readers are college anduniversity faculty experienced in teaching writing or writing-intensivecourses. All GRE readers have undergone careful training, passed stringentGRE qualifying tests, and demonstrated that they are able to maintain ahigh degree of scoring accuracy.

All identifying information about the test takers will be concealed fromthe readers, and readers will not know what other scores an essay may havereceived. The scoring procedure requires identical or adjacent scores from2 readers; any other score combination will be adjudicated by a thirdreader.

A Writing Assessment score representing the average of your scores forthe 2 essays will be reported on the 6-point scoring scale

Can I cancel my Writing Assessment score? Yes. You can choose to cancel your score at the end of the test session. Youressays will not be scored and no refund will be made. Once canceled, yourscore cannot be reinstated. Institutions will not receive any informationabout the score you canceled.

When will my Writing Assessment scores be reported?Because of the scoring process, you will not receive your score at the testcenter. Score reports will be sent to you and to your designated institutions

within 10 to 15 days after you take the test. Copies of your essays will notbe released to you or score recipients.

Apply to graduate schools online at

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TEST REGISTRATIONCan I take both the computer-based General Test and Writing

Assessment on the same day? Yes. You can choose to take both tests on the same day.Because the Writing Assessment is NOT a component of the General Test , you mustspecify that you want to take both tests at the time you make yourappointment.

How often can I take the computer-based General Test or Writing Assessment?GRE policy states that you may take the computer-based General Test and/or the Writing Assessment once per calendar month.

How can I schedule an appointment to test?For testing in the United States, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam,U.S. Virgin Islands, and Canada, and if paying by VISA, MasterCard, or

American Express, call1-800-GRE-CALL (1-800-473-2255) or the testcenter directly to schedule an appointment. Refer to theGRE Information and Registration Bulletin or the Web site at www.ets.org/cbt/index.htmlfor a current list of test centers. If paying by check, money order, or fee

waiver, complete the Authorization Voucher Request Form located in thecenter of the Bulletin and mail it to:

GRE/CBTEducational Testing Service

PO Box 6020Princeton, NJ 08541-6020

Schedule your appointment early to improve your chances of getting your preferred test date and to avoid the crowded testing period of November through January.

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For international testing, and if paying by VISA, MasterCard, or AmericanExpress, phone the appropriate Regional Registration Center (RRC) listedbelow or fax the International Test Scheduling Form found in the center of the Bulletin.The form can also be printed from the GRE Web site. If pay-

ing by check or money order, complete the form and mail it to the appro-priate RRC with payment. Schedule your appointment early to improve your chances of getting your preferred test date and to avoid thecrowded testing period of November to January.

Regional Registration Centers

ASIA - Region 6(For candidates testing in Bangladesh,Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal,Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, andVietnam)

Sylvan Learning Systems,B.V. Branch Office

PO Box 1296450794 Kuala Lumpur MalaysiaTelephone: +60-3-467-8610Fax: +60-3-467-8606

AUSTRALIA/PACIFIC - Region 1(For candidates testing in Australia, Fiji,French Polynesia, Federated States of

Micronesia, and New Zealand)

Sylvan Learning Systems, Pty Ltd.PO Box 5343Chatswood N.S.W. 2067 AustraliaTelephone: +61-2-9903-9797Fax: +61-2-9415-3105

CHINA - Region 13(For candidates testing in the PeoplesRepublic of China)

NEEA/Sylvan PrometricSM

PO Box 8717Beijing 100080 ChinaTelephone: +86-10-6251-0901

Fax: +86-10-6251-0911

EUROPE - Region 12(For candidates testing in Albania,

Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus,Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus,Czech Republic, Denmark, England,Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia,Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova,Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,Romania, Russia, Scotland, Slovakia,Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan,Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, andUzbekistan)

Sylvan Learning Systems B.V.CITOPO Box 11096801 BC Arnhem NetherlandsTelephone: +31-26-352-1577Fax: +31-26-352-1278

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INDIA - Region 14(For candidates testing in India)

Sylvan Testing Services Pvt. Ltd.1st Floor, Arcon Plaza 21, LSCPushpa ViharMadangirNew Delhi 110-062 IndiaTelephone: +91-11-699-0637Fax: +91-11-699-7103

INDONESIA - Region 2(For candidates testing in Indonesia)

International Education Foundation/Sylvan Prometric

Menara Imperium, 28th Floor, Suite B Jalan H.R. Rasuna SaidMetropolitan Kuningan,

Superblok Kav. No. 112980 Jakarta Selatan Indonesia

Telephone: +62-21-8317304Fax: +62-21-8317306

JAPAN - Region 3(For candidates testing in Japan)

Sylvan Prometric KK S & S Building 4F

6-36, Shin-Ogawa-choShinjuku-kuTokyo 162-0184 JapanTelephone: +81-3-3269-9601Fax: +81-3-3260-2587

KOREA - Region 4(For candidates testing in Korea)

Korean-American EducationalCommission (KAEC)/Sylvan Prometric

Kohap Building, Suite 40389-4 Kyongun-DongChongno-GuSeoul 110-310 Republic of KoreaTelephone: +82-2-722-5957Fax: +82-2-735-4539

LATIN AMERICA/CARIBBEAN -Region 5(For candidates testing in Antigua andBarbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados,Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,Colombia, Costa Rica, DominicanRepublic, Ecuador, El Salvador,Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica,Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua,

Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad andTobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela)

Sylvan Learning Systems InternationalDivision3110 Timanus Lane, Suite 200

Woodlawn Maryland 21244 U.S.A.Telephone: 1-410-843-8160

Fax: 1-410-843-8569

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MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA -Region 7(For candidates testing in Bahrain, Egypt,

Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco,Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria,Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, WestBank, and Yemen)

AMIDEAST/Sylvan PrometricPO Box 96Magles El ShaabCairo EgyptTelephone: +20-2-337-8973Fax: +20-2-354-0896

PAKISTAN - Region 8(For candidates testing in Pakistan)

World Learning Inc./Sylvan PrometricPO Box 13042Karachi 75350 Pakistan

Telephone: +92-21-455-7166Fax: +92-21-455-7002

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA -Region 9(For candidates testing in Botswana,Cameroon, Cte dIvoire, Eritrea,Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya,

Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius,Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa,Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia,and Zimbabwe)

Sylvan Learning Systems (PTY) Ltd.PO Box 218

Auckland Park 2006 South Africa

Telephone: +27-11-713-0600Fax: +27-11-482-4062

TAIWAN - Region 10(For candidates testing in Taiwan)

The Language Training and TestingCenter/Sylvan Prometric

PO Box 23-41Taipei Taiwan R.O.C.Telephone: +886-2-2369-1154Fax: +886-2-2363-8840

THAILAND - Region 11(For candidates testing in Thailand)

Institute of International Education/Sylvan Prometric

GPO Box 2050Bangkok 10501 ThailandTelephone: +66-2-639-2703Fax: +66-2-639-2706

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Preparing for the General Test ?

GRE DIAGNOSTIC SERVICE

Use the Web-based GRE Diagnostic Service to answseries of diagnostic questions in each skill measuredGRE General Test, and receive immediate feedbackperformance on those skills. You will receive

Descriptions of the skills testedin each sectionof the GRE General TestSample questions in each skill, with strategiesfor answering these types of questionsImmediate feedback on your performance oneach question,including the question type, whetheyou answered it correctly, how difficult it was, hlong you took to respond, and the particular skilbeing measuredRationalesexplaining the correct answers to eachquestionFee payable by credit card ($20).

Preparing for the General Test ?

Try the

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Download publications, including theGRE Information and Registration Bulletin,POWERPREP, the Practice General Test , Code Lists, CBTTutorials, Sample Questions with Explanations, and other importantmaterial.

Get quick answers to your questions about registration, test centers,score reporting procedures, and much more.

Practice for the General Test by using the interactive sample questions. Order practice materials and/or theDirectory of Graduate Programs. Take a series of diagnostic questions and receive immediate feedback

on the skills measured by the GRE General Test with the DiagnosticService athttp://grediagnostic@ets.org.

Apply to graduate schools online with GradAdvantageTM at www.gradadvantage.org.

Register online for a paper-based test or thefree Search Service.

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